Basket carriers for carrying a plurality of bottles are well known in the art. While these carriers typically have a stand up (vertical) handle, the handle does not extend above the tops of the bottles; thus permitting the carriers to be stacked one on top the other. Because the handle does not extend above the tops of the bottles it is not very convenient for carrying the carrier as the bottle tops get in the way of a person's hand.
It would be desirable to reduce the caliber and amount of paperboard that is used to produce a bottle carrier where the necks of the bottles extend through the upper sidewalls of the carrier (i.e., a wrap-around bottle carrier). One of the weak points of the carrier is the aperture through which a bottle extends. It would be desirable if those apertures could be re-enforced so that the caliber of the paperboard could be reduced.
Another weak point of the wrap-around carrier for bottles is the handle structure. It would be desirable if the handle structure could be re-enforced so that the handle does not give way when a person is carrying a carrier full of heavy bottles, which are loaded with a beverage.